Sunday, 24 February 2019

Today's newsletter is, without a doubt, the hardest I shall ever have to write! It is with great sadness that I have to tell you that the very special Kay Baker passed away over the weekend in hospital. Her passing appears to have come very suddenly and it was only on Friday that I received an email from her saying thank you for all your best wishes and saying she felt 'truly humbled and honoured to be part of such a wonderful Ladies Section'. Her family have asked for you all to be informed and I will send them our thoughts and condolences on your behalf, of course! Many of you, I know, were very close to Kay and her beloved Derek and our thoughts are with you all too at this very sad time. It somehow seems wrong to now talk about golf, but I know Kay would want us to do just that; she loved her golf and the many many friends the sport had brought her and Derek. So I will continue as planned....

Tuesday was this year's first 18 holes fun competition and playing a Wish, Gift and a Joker for the first time at Chesfield Downs, new ladies Jan and Debbie came in with a very creditable 42 points each. Not to be outdone though, Helen was to come in officially second on count back also with 42 points, only to be beaten by Mandy with an amazing 44 points. Well done to all the ladies in there with a chance to win!

The Megan Bonner Par 3 trophy on Thursday saw a shot-gun start and two ladies in particular were eager to make an impression.

Megan herself tee'd off on the 1st (above) and as always, was keen to get her hands on her own trophy, and Jacqui, last year's winner, found herself in trouble in the bunker on the 9th, when her ball plugged itself in the upward bank!

How did they fare, well you will have to wait until the Spring Meeting when the winner will be announced? Nevertheless, the weather was very kind to us with 13 ladies gaining birdies. The round was followed by a light lunch and a brief talk by Sharn Tomlinson from MIND in Mid Herts who gave us an outline of the very valuable work this charity performs in our area. We will be working hard this year to raise money for them.

Saturday saw the 13th round of the Ken Bird Trophy, an Individual Stableford competition. The weather was glorious and the scores reflected that. John Dench, the Mens Captain scored an amazing 41 points, so well done to him! Our own Pat W came in with a great 35 points, well done to her and the other ladies who played!

Those who played on Saturday may well have noticed a small change to the areas around the GUR bunkers by the 9th and 14th greens. The dropping zones on these holes were deemed, on inspection, to be penalising those golfers who had in fact landed just beyond the bunkers, but within the GUR line. The decision has been taken by Andy and the management to remove these particular dropping zones and therefore 'the nearest point of relief' will be in force for those landing within the designated GUR areas on these holes. Please do ask if you are in any doubt.

You may well have also noticed on HowDidIDo that the Thursday Price Vase/Stableford Main Competition Day on 14th March has moved to a four-ball sign-up. This has been a decision made by Lin and myself, in order to ensure that all the ladies are able to play this popular event. As you will be aware the section has grown significantly in the last few weeks, which is great but action needed to be taken to ensure everyone is able to play who wants to. This change will also be seen in other Stableford comps going forward. However, to try to ensure play is as speedy as possible, can I ask you to sign up in threes in the first instance please, using the fourth slot only if there are no others available. Thank you.

Marica has asked me to remind you that Birdies have returned from their flight south and will be with us from 1st March. A new book will be out next week.

Lastly, many many thanks for the lovely flowers sent to me following my recent illness. I am recovering my stamina and hopefully will be out on the Par 3 this week, I'm certainly missing the fresh air and golf. Hope to see some of you in person later this week.